योगास्त्रयो मया प्रोक्ता नृणां श्रेयोविधित्सया ।
ज्ञानं कर्म च भक्तिश्च नोपायोऽन्योऽस्ति कुत्रचित् ॥
yogās trayo mayā proktā nṝṇāṁ śreyo-vidhitsayā |
jñānaṁ karma ca bhaktiś ca nopāyo’nyo’sti kutracit ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.6; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 170)
“Three yogas—jñāna, karma, and bhakti—have been taught by me with the intention of bringing about the weal of human beings. There is no other means [to weal for human beings] anywhere.”
Commentary
viṣayābhede’py adhikāri-bhedenāvirodhaṁ vaktuṁ prathamaṁ yoga-trayam āha—yogā iti | yogā upāyā brahma-karma-devatā-kāṇḍaiḥ proktāḥ | karma ca niṣkāmam | śreyo-vidhitsayā mokṣa-sādhanecchayā | anya upāyo nāstīti kāmya-karmādikaṁ vyāvartayati | tathā cottarādhyāye sphuṭīkariṣyati ‘ya etān’ ity-ādinā |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“He [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] first speaks of three yogas to explain the non-incompatibility [of different instructions] based on a distinction between bearers of eligibility’ (adhikāri-bhedena) even in the case of the non-difference of subject matters: yogāḥ … [i.e., he speaks SB 11.20.6]. ‘Yogas’ (yogāḥ) refers to the means taught in the Brahman, Karma, and Devatā sections [of the Vedas]. Karma, furthermore, refers to the desireless (niṣkāma) [form of karma]. ‘With the intention of bringing about the weal’ (śreyo-vidhitsayā) means with the desire of effecting mokṣa [for human beings]. By [the statement] ‘There is no other means,’ elective (kāmya) karma and so on are negated. Likewise, this is also clarified in the next chapter [in SB 11.21.1], ‘Those who relinquish these paths to me in the form of bhakti, jñāna, and karma and [instead only] partake of meager objects of desire with wavering senses transmigrate [i.e., continue undergoing cyclic birth and death in the midst of material existence].’”
yogas traya ity asya ṭīkāyāṁ—‘viṣayābhede’pi’ iti pūrvokta-puṇya-pāpādi-rūpāṇāṁ viṣayāṇām abhede’pīty arthaḥ | ‘adhikāri-bhedena’ iti karmādi-sādhakān prati bahavo guṇa-doṣā varṇitāḥ, parama-siddhān prati ‘guṇa-doṣa-dṛśir doṣaḥ’ ity anenaika eveti bhāvaḥ | yad vā, akiñcanākhyāyā bhakteḥ sarvordhva-bhūmikāvasthitim adhikāri-viśeṣa-niṣṭhatvaṁ ca darśayituṁ prakriyāntaram | tatra para-tattvasya vaimukhya-parihārāya yathā-kathañcit sāmmukhya-mātraṁ kartavyatvena labhyate | tac ca tridhā—nirviśeṣa-rūpasya tadīya-brahmākhyāvirbhāvasya jñāna-rūpam, saviśeṣa-rūpasya ca tadīya-bhagavad-ākhyāvirbhāvasya bhakti-rūpam iti dvayam, tṛtīyaṁ ca tasya dvayasyaiva dvāraṁ karmārpaṇa-rūpam iti | tad etat trayaṁ puruṣa-yogyatā-bhedena vyavasthāpayituṁ loke sāmānyato jñāna-karma-bhaktīnām evopāyatvaṁ, nānyeṣām ity anuvadati—yogās traya iti | yogā upāyāḥ | mayā śāstra-yoninā | śreyāṁsi mukti-tri-varga-premāṇi | anena bhakteḥ karmatvaṁ vyāvṛttam |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā; excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 170)
“‘Yogas trayaḥ …’—in the commentary [of Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda] on this [verse, the phrase], ‘Even in the case of the non-difference of subject matters’ (viṣayābhede’pi) means even in the case of the non-difference of subject matters in the form of the aforementioned piety (puṇya), sin (pāpa), and so forth. ‘Based on a distinction between bearers of eligibility’ (adhikāri-bhedena) was stated because many [different] qualities and faults were described [in the previous chapter] for sādhakas of [the path of] karma and so forth [i.e., as well as sādhakas of the paths of jñāna and bhakti]. Only one [quality] was stated for the highest siddhas [in SB 11.19.45], ‘Seeing qualities and faults is a fault.’ This is the purport.
“Alternately, another section [begins] to show the dwelling of this bhakti known as unconditional (akiñcanā) at the highest level of all and the fixity (niṣṭhatva) of its particular adhikārīs [i.e., those who have eligibility for it in particular]. In this regard, for the sake of removing obliviousness (vaimukhya) of the Supreme Entity (Para-tattva), mere intentness (sāmmukhya) [upon the Supreme Entity (Para-tattva)] by any means is found to be a duty. That, furthermore, is threefold: (1) [the first is] the form of awareness (jñāna) of his manifestation known as Brahman, his form without distinction (nirviśeṣa); (2) the second is the form of bhakti to his manifestation known as Bhagavān, his form with distinction (saviśeṣa), and (3) the third is the form of offering of karma, which is a gateway to these two [i.e., to jñāna and bhakti]. Thus, to establish these three [means of intentness (sāmmukhya) upon the Supreme Entity (Para-tattva)] in accord with the differences in fitness of people, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] reiterates the status as means in general in the world of jñāna, karma, and bhakti alone and not of anything else [i.e., he states that generally in this world only jñāna, karma, and bhakti are means to intentness (sāmmukhya) upon the Supreme Entity and no other paths lead to this intentness (sāmmukhya)]: yogās trayaḥ … [i.e., he speaks SB 11.20.6]. ‘Yogas’ (yogāḥ) means means. ‘By me’ (mayā) means by I whose source is the śāstra [i.e., by I the source of [knowledge about] whom is the śāstra]. ‘Weal’ (śreyas) means (1) mukti [i.e., that which is attained by means of jñāna], (2) the trivarga [i.e., dharma, artha, and kāma, meaning, that which is attained by means of karma], and (3) prema [i.e., that which is attained by means of bhakti]. By this [statement], bhakti’s being [a form of] karma is also negated.”
adhikāri-bhedenāvasthā-bhedena ca guṇa-doṣa-bheda-dṛṣṭer vihitatvaṁ niṣiddhatvaṁ ca yathā-yogaṁ bhaved iti | taj jñāpayitum āha—yogā upāyā brahma-karma-devatā-kāṇḍaiḥ proktāḥ | śreyāṁsi mokṣa-trivarga-premāṇi teṣāṁ vidhitsayeti me sarvatra kṛpayaiveti bhāvaḥ | nānya etat-tritayaṁ vinā anyas tapo-yogādikaḥ, tapo’ṣṭāṅga-yogāder yathā-sambhavaṁ jñāna-bhaktyor evāntarbhāva-darśanād iti bhāvaḥ | traya ity anena karmibhiḥ karmaṇa eva jñānibhir jñānasyaivocyamānaṁ śuddha-bhaktitvaṁ parāhatam |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“The compulsoriness and prohibitedness of vision of qualities, faults, and distinction based on a distinction between bearers of eligibility (adhikārīs) and a distinction between circumstances should be [applied] as appropriate. To convey this, he [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] speaks [this verse, i.e., SB 11.20.6]. ‘Yogas’ (yogāḥ) refers to the means taught in the Brahman, Karma, and Devatā sections [of the Vedas]. ‘Weal’ (śreyas) means (1) mukti [i.e., that which is attained by means of jñāna], (2) the trivarga [i.e., dharma, artha, and kāma, meaning, that which is attained by means of karma], and (3) prema [i.e., that which is attained by means of bhakti]. ‘With the intention of bringing about these’ (vidhitsayā) indicates only because of my grace everywhere [i.e., that he intends to bring about weal for all by teaching these three paths to all respectively as per each individual‘s suitability for one in particular among them indicates that he is gracious towards all human beings and not just a certain section among them]. This is the purport. ‘No other’ (na anyaḥ) means others apart from these three [viz., jñāna, karma, and bhakti], such as austerity (tapas) and yoga, on account of vision of austerity (tapas), eightfold (aṣṭāṅga) yoga, and so forth being included as possible within [the paths of] jñana and bhakti. ‘Three’ (trayaḥ)—by [mention of] this [word, which indicates that bhakti is a third path distinct from the paths of karma and jñāna], the karma [performed] by karmīs and the jñāna [performed] by jñānīs being the pure bhakti being mentioned [in the verse] is negated.”